A group of vegan activists have performed a protest inside a popular steakhouse – but patrons appeared more amused than annoyed.
The demonstrators who attended the Melbourne restaurant on Saturday were from two groups known as ‘Melbourne Cow Save Animal Liberation Army’ and ‘Direct Action Everywhere’.
The rally saw protesters file into the building before chanting throughout the two-storey establishment using megaphones and flashing pro-animal signs.
A group of vegan activists have performed a protest inside a popular Melbourne steakhouse
The rally saw protesters file into the building before chanting throughout the two-storey establishment with megaphones
The incident took place just after 6.30pm at Rare Steakhouse in the heart of the city’s CBD.
Footage of the stunt, labelled ‘steakhouse disruption’, was posted through the vegan groups’ Facebook pages, saying their ambition was ‘to speak up for animals where their dead bodies were being consumed.’
’35 activists disrupted a Melbourne steakhouse to speak up for animals where their dead bodies were being consumed,’ Melbourne Cow Save captioned the video.
‘There is no humane way to kill someone who does not want to die.’
The clip begins with activists quietly walking into the restaurant as unsuspecting customers are eating their meals.
Demonstrators can be seen standing around the bar holding signs, on the stairs with megaphones and on the top level, all chanting, as a woman leads the chorus.
‘It’s not food, it’s violence,’ they repeat.
Many are standing immediately next to patrons, who surprisingly seem undaunted by the choir of activists.
Demonstrators can be seen standing around the bar holding signs, on the stairs with megaphones and on the top level, all chanting as a woman leads the chorus
Many are standing immediately next to patrons, who surprisingly seem undaunted by the choir of activists
Some customers can be seen smirking as they scream their point across, while others even begin filming the group. Others continue eating their meal as if there were no disturbance
Some customers can be seen smirking as the activists scream their point across, while others even begin filming the group from their seats.
Many patrons just continue eating their meal as if there were no disturbance at all.
The footage then shows the protesters standing outside, holding signs to the windows as staff lower the blinds, after they had been led out by police.
A manager at Rare Steakhouse told Daily Mail Australia staff initially attempted to stop the activists at the door but quickly realised they were powerless to stop the protest.
‘There was one or two ring leaders who had the mics, they were very loud, shouting the same propaganda over and over again,’ the manager said.
‘We spoke to people while it was happening and tried to calm the situation and said police were on their way.’
The footage then shows more protesters standing outside, holding signs to the windows as staff lower the blinds
A manager at Rare Steakhouse told Daily Mail Australia staff initially attempted to stop the activists at the door but quickly realised they were powerless to stop the protest
She said some customers were ‘very emotionally upset’ by the stunt, but others were able to ‘laugh it off’.
The manager also said, before being led away, a woman from the vegan group threatened ‘we will be back’.
The restaurant say they do not know if it was a targetted or random attack, but said they understood the passion of the demonstrators.
‘The butchers we get our meat from are halal, the animals are killed humanely,’ the manager said.
‘They’re from Australian cattle farms, we have a good connection with these people and we pride ourselves on making sure the standards of the meat and the way the animals are killed is humane.’